This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

H&M pulls headdresses from Canadian shelves after complaints

H&M got complaints that its headdresses, part of the fast-fashion firm’s summer music festival collection, were offensive to aboriginals.

H&M's headdresses — patterned head bands with bright pink and purple feathers — were part of the company's summer music festival collection called "H&M Loves Music." They are no longer for sale on Canadian shelves.
(handout)

When Kim Wheeler came across a fashion headdress in a Vancouver H&M, the self-described “proud Ojibway/Mohawk woman who fights against cultural (mis)appropriation” voiced her displeasure to the nearest sales clerk, then took a picture of the item and attached it to the email she promptly fired off to customer service.

Six days later, the fashion retailer notified the media relations specialist the product would be removed from its stores nationwide.

“Feedback from our customers is very important to us; we never meant to offend anybody,” said H&M Canada spokeswoman Emily Scarlett.

Following the long weekend, a result, perhaps, of Wheeler’s missive to her Facebook friends, the company had logged three grievances about the $14.95 accessory that had been available in five Canadian branches, including Eaton Centre and Yorkdale, for about a month.

“If it had been one or 100 (complaints), the reaction would have been the same,” said Scarlett, who noted it was the first time in her seven years on staff that merchandise was withdrawn due to this type of consumer feedback. The headgear has not wrought controversy in any other jurisdiction, she said.

Article Continued Below

The piece, which originated at H&M’s Stockholm headquarters, was part of H&M Loves Music, a collection of music festival-geared clothing and accessories.

In her letter, Wheeler called the “faux First Nations headdresses” a “grievous oversight of cultural sensitivity.

“As you may not be aware, headdresses are worn by chiefs in some of our communities, but not all, as we are not a pan-indigenous culture,” she wrote.

“It is a symbol of respect and honour and should not be for sale as some sort of cute accessory. . . I hope that you can see how this item is offensive and helps to perpetuate cartoon-like negative stereotypes of our proud heritage.”

“What I see going on here with H&M is something quite different than the whole ongoing ding-dong about the Redskins name, for example,” said York University marketing professor Detlev Zwick. (Native Americans have spent years lobbying to change the Washington, D.C., football team’s name).

“A Swedish, fast-fashion designer house considers a relatively free-wheeling variation on traditional aboriginal headwear entirely unproblematic, because back in Europe it probably is.

“When you bring this fashion item into a new context, such as Canada, with its troubled imperial history towards the First Nations, well, the meaning of the same thing changes.

“Now, you very likely would not see H&M make the same mistake with some variation of the Star of David as (an) accessory for your latest summer jacket, given the use of this symbol by the Nazis.”

Wheeler plans to remain vigilant.

“It really is about continuing the education of non-aboriginal people,” she said.

“And if we have to keep explaining to them over and over again why it’s wrong, why it’s culturally insensitive, then I’ll keep doing that.”

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com